asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many local authorities, containing what population, have made representations to date to Her Majesty's Government asking for their areas to be declared nuclear-free zones; and what representations he has received from Manchester city council on this matter.

The Government have received a representation from Manchester city council calling upon Her Majesty's Government to refrain from the manufacture or positioning of any nuclear weapons within its city boundaries. Similar representations have been received from a further 12 local councils. The total population in these areas is estimated to be about 4,600,000 at June 1979 figures.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many megatons of attacking missiles he estimates would be likely to be needed to destroy the cruise missiles which it is proposed to deploy in the United Kingdom on the assumption that they had then been dispersed.

The precise total yield required would depend on the nature of the terrain over which the GLCMs were dispersed and the yields of individual warheads. To destroy the force would require an attack tantamount to all-out nuclear war; as long as NATO possesses invulnerable retaliatory forces like Polaris, it is most unlikely that such an attack will be launched against GLCMs. But it is very broadly estimated that more than 1,000 megatons would be required to ensure their destruction.

	1976–77	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81 (provisional)
	£	£	£	£	£
Council of Europe	3,017,266	3,267,515	3,811,274	3,885,560	3,988,354
Western European Union	540,561	565,866	667,169	730,546	749,738
North Atlantic Assembly	81,146	102,625	116,392	112,512	107,660

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will set out for each three-month period since their establishment the number of meetings held by each Departmental Select Committee and the number of pages of (a) evidence, and (b) reports each so far produced.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now publish details of the Civil List expenditure for 1981–82.

Details will be published on 10 March when the Supply Estimates are presented to Parliament.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the public sector borrowing requirement was in 1978–79.

£9,199 million. Recent figures for the public sector borrowing requirement and its components are published in Financial Statistics, table 2.5.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what expenditure from United Kingdom public funds has been made on the Council of Europe, the Western European Union and the North Atlantic Assembly, respectively, for the past five years.

Expenditure by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on contributions to the Council of Europe, the Western European Union and the North Atlantic Assembly for the live years to March 1981 was as follows. The figures do not include the United Kingdom's share of expenses of the Council of Europe: European Pharmacopoeia, which is met from DHSS funds; nor the subscription to the European Drugs Cooperation (Pompidou) Group, which is met from Home Office funds. Nor do they include the cost of sending delegates from the FCO and other Government Departments to meetings of these organisations.Travelling, subsistence and associated expenses of the parliamentary delegations attending sessions and Committee meetings of the Assemblies of the three organisations are met from the House of Commons and House of Lords Votes.

The information asked for is as follows:

	Meetings	Pages of evidence published	Pages of reports published
Agriculture Committee
To December 1979	2	—	—
January-March 1980	11	98	—

	Meetings	Pages of evidence published	Pages of reports published
April-June 1980	12	243	—
July-September 1980	6	138	30
October-December 1980	6	103	3
January-2 March 1981	3	90	—
Defence Committee
To December 1979	3	—	—
January-March 1980	9	—	4
April-June 1980	17	140	26
July-September 1980	10	—	—
October-December 1980	11	248	14
January-2 March 1981	7	140	4
Education, Science and Arts Committee
To December 1979	3	—	—
January-March 1980	19	—	—
April-June 1980	13	312	40
July-September 1980	8	19	2
October-December 1980	3	839	145
January-2 March 1981	7	—	4
Employment Committee
To December 1979	3	—	—
January-March 1980	9	75	—
April-June 1980	7	137	—
July-September 1980	8	174	14
October-December 1980	7	143	25
January-2 March 1981	9	119	62
Energy Committee
To December 1979	2	—	—
January-March 1980	10	88	—
April-June 1980	10	134	4
July-September 1980	10	136	4
October-December 1980	11	395	—
January-2 March 1981	7	30	124
Environment Committee
To December 1979	3	—	—
January-March 1980	7	—	—
April-June 1980	14	339	—
July-September 1980	10	26	101
October-December 1980	5	—	6
January-2 March 1981	10	—	—
Foreign Affairs Committee
To December 1979	2	—	—
January-March 1980	*22	†387	22
April-June 1980	*19	†409	36

	Meetings	Pages of evidence published	Pages of reports published
July-September 1980	*12	†216	85
October-December 1980	*14	†390	—
January-2 March 1981	*14	†56	108
Home Affairs Committee
To December 1979	*6	†53	—
January-March 1980	*21	†434	34
April-June 1980	*17	†316	107
July-September l980	*12	†174	166
October-December 1980	*19	†652	12
January-2 March 1981	*13	†93	—
Industry and Trade Committee
To December 1979	2	—	—
January-March 1980	11	46	6
April-June 1980	11	353	—
July-September 1980	6	340	77
October-December 1980	9	131	6
January-2 March 1981	7	53	101
Committee on Scottish Affairs
To December 1979	4	—	—
January-March 1980	11	91	8
April-June 1980	11	325	—
July-September 1980	6	236	35
October-December 1980	8	—	—
January-2 March 1981	7	129	18
Social Services Committee
To December 1979	3	—	—
January-March 1980	15	633	—
April-June 1980	13	111	10
July-September 1980	3	—	189
October-December 1980	10	133	5
January-2 March 1981	17	211	21
Transport Committee
To December 1979	2	—	—
January-March 1980	10	36	—
April-June 1980	14	170	35
July-September 1980	11	418	17
October-December 1980	12	193	42
January-2 March 1981	9	—	—
Treasury and Civil Service Committee
To December 1979	*4	—	—
January-March 1980	*18	†l33	6
April-June 1980	*22	†328	10

	Meetings	Pages of evidence published	Pages of reports published
July-September 1980	*14	†603	12
October-December 1980	*14	†269	27
January-2 March 1981	*12	†l7	—
Committee on Welsh Affairs
To December 1979	1	—	—
January-March 1980	11	—	3
April-June 1980	17	291	—
July-Septembter 1980	6	353	50
October-December 1980	10	31	4
January-2 March 1981	10	183	3
* Including meetings of Sub-Committee.
† Including Sub-Committee evidence.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report the total grants made to Scotland from the European social fund since 1973; and what estimate he has made of the extent to which these grants have assisted the employment situation in Scotland.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 March 1981, c. 72]: Allocations from the European social fund from 1973 to 1980 which can be identified as specifically for operations in Scotland total £46,775.891. In addition, substantial allocations from the fund have been made for training and employment measures in respect of which it is not possible readily to identify the exact amount attributable to Scotland. Most of the schemes in question were aimed at improving the employment prospects of unemployed people.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will review the new terms for short-term compensation for redundancies to take particular note of the concerns of very small businesses.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 March 1981, c. 72]: The annual review of the temporary short-time working compensation scheme to be undertaken later this year will take into account the needs of all industries, including small businesses.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what monitoring of companies' use of funds available under work experience and other schemes for youth employment is undertaken by the Manpower Services Commission and his Department to ensure that they do not displace full-time male or female employees or affect their rates of pay and working conditions; and whether he is satisfied with these arrangements in view of representations made to him by hon. Members.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 March 1981, c. 72]: The Manpower Services Commission keeps the monitoring of schemes sponsored under the youth opportunities programme under careful review. Before approval can be given, all proposals for new YOP schemes must undergo a close initial appraisal to ensure the criteria of the programme will be met. This appraisal involves consulting the relevant trade unions, the local job centre and careers offices. When approved, schemes are monitored to ensure that the sponsor is operating them correctly. These monitoring procedures are at present under review because of the expansion of the programme to 440,000 places in 1981–82.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many and what kind of representations he has received from hon. Members and trades unions about the misuse by companies of funds available under work experience and youth opportunities programme schemes for using young people in place of normal full-time employees; and whether he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 March 1981, c. 72]: The youth opportunities programme is a locally devolved programme. A network of area boards vets each scheme application before approval is given. Each board has representatives from local employers, trade unions and other appropriate organisations. Any difficulties are usually cleared at the local level.In the past 12 months, I have received five letters from hon. Members specifically on the misuse of the programme and answered two parliamentary questions on this subject.Trade unions are represented on the Manpower Services Commission's special programmes board, which oversees the programme nationally. YOP has the full support of the TUC and its constituent unions at a national level.I am concerned about the possibility of substitution of employees by work experience trainees. The MSC is currently reviewing arrangements for the appraisal of individual schemes and for monitoring the programme as a whole.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) men, (b) women, and (c) young people from ethnic minorities were registered as unemployed for each month since May 1979; what percentages these figures represent in each case; and what were the numbers and percentages for the population as a whole.

[pursuant to his reply, 5 March 1981, c. 169]: The numbers of unemployed ethnic minority group workers are counted quarterly in February, May, August and November and an age analysis is made annually in February. The latest date for which the total numbers of unemployed ethnic minority group workers is available is November 1980 and the latest age analysis is for February 1980. Percentage rates of unemployment for ethnic minority group workers are not calculated. The following table gives the available information about the numbers of unemployed ethnic minority group workers in Great Britain and expresses their total numbers as percentages of all unemployed people.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many 18-year-olds have not yet had a full-time job in (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the West Midlands as at 12 February.

[pursuant to his reply, 5 March 1981, c. 169]: At 12 February, the provisional number of unemployed people aged 18 years in the Wolverhampton employment office area who had not entered employment since completing full-time education was 232. The corresponding figure for the West Midlands Region was 2,224. The hon. Member will know that last November my right hon. Friend announced a major expansion of the youth opportunities programme to help unemployed young people.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in light of a recent award of £95,000 damages to a psychosurgery patient, he will now take steps to remove National Health Service funds from units performing such operations.

In the case referred to, negligence was not proved but judgment was entered against the regional health authority in default of defence: I understand that an inquiry is being set up by South-West Thames regional health authority to review the handling of the case by its legal department. I have no plans to remove National Health Service funds from these surgical units, for the reasons outlined in my hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson) on 3 March—[Vol. 1000, c.80].

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will ensure that midwives attending expectant mothers who have domiciliary confinements against medical advice, are protected against possible litigation by the signing by such mothers of a release form.

No. I am advised that the signing of such a release form would not prevent the instigation of proceedings against midwives.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the future of the Royal Liverpool children's hospital.

I have already announced my decision that the Heswell branch of the Royal Liverpool children's hospital will remain open. I shall be meeting the chairman of the Mersey regional and the Liverpool area health authorities very shortly to discuss the future of paediatric services for the city, including the future of the Myrtle Street hospital.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department has been involved in the recent review of the operation of section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972; and whether, in relation to those areas of his Department's operations which are either currently affected by it or would be affected by it were the existing scope to be altered, he will take careful account of the interests and activities of voluntary organisations.

I assume that the right hon. Gentleman has in mind the review of the means and powers employed by local authorities to assist industry and commerce, to which my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Local Government and Environmental Services referred in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Woolwich, West (Mr. Bottomley) on 3 March—[Vol. 1000, c. 98–9]. The Department was not represented on the review group, but I have a copy of the group's report and will be conveying our views to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the reasons why the Minister of State asked the president of the Royal Horticultural Society to admit up to only 20 disabled people on the Monday of Chelsea Flower Show.

I understand that the president of the society undertook at its annual meeting that it would be as flexible as possible about the number of disabled members who could be admitted on the Monday of the show. My concern was to ensure that as many disabled persons as practicably possible be admitted, and various figures were considered in discussions. The Royal Horticultural Society is best placed to make a judgment as to precise numbers.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he is able to announce the future administrative structure for health services in the Wessex region.

I am pleased to be able to announce that my right hon. Friend has agreed the recommendation made by the Wessex regional health authority for restructuring the National Health Service within Wessex. Subject to the necessary order being made in due course, the following district health authorities will be established in Wessex:

	Resident population
West Dorset	186,000
East Dorset	399,000
Southampton	413,000
Portsmouth	519,000
Winchester	195,000
Basingstoke	196,000
Swindon	216,000
Salisbury	126,000
Bath	382,000
Isle of Wight	112,000

The boundaries will be the same as those of present health districts within Wessex. These changes will mean that the present four area authorities and ten districts will be replaced by the ten new district authorities. This is a major move towards achieving a more local streamlined service. While this establishes the number and size of the new district authorities, the details of membership and when the authorities will come into operation are yet to be settled.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the percentage loss of woodland in each county of the United Kingdom since 1945.

I regret this information is not available. However, the net woodland area in the United Kingdom has increased from about 6 per cent. of the total land area in 1947 to about 9 per cent. today.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will outline the measures in the structure package agreed by the Agriculture Council on 24 February.

The proposals on structure, which form part of a wider package still subject to agreement by the Italian Government, include amendments to the existing directives together with some new regional schemes. Of the amendments to the existing structure directives the main ones are:—

(a) To Directive 72/159 (Modernisation of Farms) to lower the income threshold to the farm development scheme, to increase the existing limits on the amount of aid per labour unit subject to an overall limit per farm, to replace some limitation on development aid to farmers with more than 100 per cent. of the comparable income and to enable special help for young farmers.

(b) To restrict aid to dairy farmers with development plans to the amount of investment needed to increase the number of cows to a maximum of 60. Farms which already have herds larger than this will be permitted aid under a development plan on investment sufficient to increase the herd size by not more than 15 per cent. National aid to dairy farmers will not be permitted except to those too small to qualify for a development plan and whose investment would not increase the herd size beyond 40 cows per farm.

(c) To replace the existing financial limits on investment in pig production. In future aid will be limited to the amount of investment needed to attain 550 pig places. If, however, 550 pig places will not provide a comparable income for 1·5 labour units the Commission may authorise aid on a larger investment, but not more than sufficient to achieve 1,000 pig places.

There are three regional schemes of interest to the United Kingdom.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a further statement on the progress of infraction proceedings against the Netherlands Government on the rigging of gas prices to the Dutch horticulture industry.

As I indicated to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Bedfordshire (Mr. Hastings) in the course of my statement on 25 February on the last meeting of the Agricultural Council, the European Commission again confirmed that legal action was continuing against the Dutch. I am losing no opportunity to press for this to be completed speedily, and shall urge the Commission to refer the matter to the European Court if there is no better way of securing an early removal of illegal distortions in comparative energy prices.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the reasons for his statement that he refused to accept the views of the Advisory Centre for Education that local education authorities are not failing in their statutory duties under sections 8 and 61 of the Education Act 1944.

I have nothing to add to the replies given on 4 March to questions fron the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Short) and, as respects section 61 of the Education Act 1944, from the hon. Member for Swindon (Mr. Stoddart).

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what proportion of direct inward industrial investment in the member States of the European Community from (a) North America, (b) Japan and (c) Scandinavia has come to the United Kingdom in each year since 1973.

The information available relates to net direct investment^* in the United Kingdom by selected countries as a proportion of the net direct investment of those countries in all member States of the European Community, including the United Kingdom and is given in the table below.

Per cent.
Year	USA	Canada	Japan	Sweden
1973	26·6	77·7	†80·4	‡
1974	31·4	44·8	†79·1	‡
1975	40·8	27·4	30·0	‡
1976	27·8	39·7	14·3	12·6
1977	48·2	||125·0	21·0	32·2
1978	39·4	9·5	16·8	22·9
1979	39·6	‡	¶14·0	20·5
* Direct investment statistics include
(a) for Canada, Japan and Sweden, the net purchase of shares and long-term loans in overseas affiliates.
(b) for USA, all US investment in overseas affiliates in the form of the net purchase of shares and long-term loans, unremitted profits of overseas affiliates, plus short-term loans and net credit advanced to the affiliates.
† Excludes Denmark and the Irish Republic.
‡ Not applicable.
|| Canadian net direct investment in EC and UK negative in 1977.
¶ Japanese net direct investment in EC and UK negative in 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will list the top 10 countries for United Kingdom exports and trade success together with the value of the business; and how much trade is to EEC member countries.

The information is as follows:

United Kingdom's top 10 export markets in 1980
Country	1980 Value £bn
Federal Republic of Germany	5·1
USA	4·5
Netherlands	3·8
France	3·6
Irish Republic	2·6
Belgium/Luxembourg	2·3
Switzerland	2·0
Italy	1·9
Sweden	1·6
Spain	1·2
The value of UK exports to the European Community (including Greece) in 1980 amounted to £20.5bn.
Source: Overseas Trade Statistics of the UK (1981 classification basis).

asked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) whether his Department has taken action in the last three weeks to disperse the oil slick issuing from the wreck of the German ferry"Ems", off the Norfolk coast;(2) what representations he has received from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds on the loss of bird life as a result of the oil slick resulting from the sinking of the German ferry"Ems" off the Norfolk coast.

The"Ems" sank in the early hours of 30 January. An oil slick of seven miles by one mile was sprayed that day by four vessels hired by my Department, the first of which was on the scene at first light. The slick dispersed. The following day there was a further very small slick which was dispersed within half an hour by one vessel which had remained on the scene.On 9 February, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reported sightings of oil and also oiled birds coming ashore on the Norfolk coast, and on the following day a helicopter reported oil in the vicinity of the wreck. On 11 February, the Department hired an aircraft equipped with aerial spraying facilities to search the area. Only very slight traces of oil were found and these were dispersing naturally and rapidly. A similar flight on the following day found no oil.Following further reports of oil pollution, from the RSPB amongst others, a further flight on 27 February found some light oil near the wreck's position and this was successfully sprayed with dispersant.A flight on 4 March found again small patches of oil in the general vicinity of the wreck but this was dispersing naturally. No oiled seabirds were seen in that area.A small number of samples of oil from oiled birds and beaches have so far been analysed by the laboratory of the Government Chemist. The analysis revealed the oil to be medium or heavy fuel oil, a type not carried by the"Ems". My Department is also co-operating with the RSPB and local interests to facilitate prompt analysis of further samples. The cost to the Department of these counter pollution operations has been £31,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade how many trade associations and professional bodies have made representations about the Registry of Business Names; how many have been in favour of the Government's proposals; and how many have been opposed to the proposals.

Comments on the consultative document published by the Department in April 1980 were received from some 60 trade associations and professional bodies. Although the majority of those responding were not in favour of closing the registry, it is not possible to categorize replies precisely because of the qualification of answers given by reference to the alternative proposals set out in the consultative document relating to new requirements for the disclosure of the ownership of those businesses currently required to register.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will take steps to ensure that editorial independence is

	Flag
Description	United Kingdom		Norway		Dutch		German		Panama
	No.	Per cent.*	No.	Per cent.	No.	Per cent.	No.	Per cent.	No.	Per cent.
Supply Boats	65	(58)	22	(19)	10	(9)	8	(7)	3	(3)
Safety/Support Vessels†	124	(92)	3	(2)	7	(5)	—	—	1	(1)
Crane Barges	—	—	1	(100)	—	—	—	—	—	—
Pipelaying Barges	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Drilling Rigs	7	(30)	3	(13)	—	—	—	—	7	(30)
* Percentages have been rounded.
† The figures for safety/support vessels show the number of vessels holding current Department of Trade certificates for safety work on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.

	Flag
Description	Sweden		Singapore		Canada		United States of America		Liberia
	No.	Per cent.	No.	Per cent.	No.	Per cent.	No.	Per cent.	No.	Per cent.
Supply Boats	1	(1)	1	(1)	2	(2)	—	—	—	—
Safety/Support Vessels†	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Crane Barges	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Pipelaying Barges	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Drilling Rigs	—	—	—	—	1	(5)	3	(13)	2	(9)
† The figures for safety/support vessels show the number of vessels holding current Department of Trade certificates for safety work on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what grants have been made by the voluntary services unit in the years 1976–77 to date in respect of Scotland, England and Wales; and if he will (express these figures in percentage terms.

Details of grants by the voluntary services unit in England, Scotland and Wales for the financial years 1977–78 and 1980–81, and the relevant percentages, are

I have not yet received any application for consent to the transfer of The Observer to another newspaper proprietor. It would therefore be premature to speculate what conditions might be attached to my consent.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will list in numbers and percentages the flag registrations of oil supply boats, safety and support vessels, crane barges, pipe-laying barges and drilling-rigs deployed in the Scottish sector of the North Sea.

I have been asked to reply.My Department's best current estimates of the position on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf is:listed below. Details for the other years have been given in previous parliamentary answers, and I am writing to the hon. Member.

Grant Applications agreed by the Voluntary Services Unit 1977–78
	£
Action Resource Centre	13,000
Advisory Committee for the Education of Romany and other travellers	5,500
After Six Housing Advisory Trust	14,000
Albany Trust	13,500
AVEC - A service agency for church and community work	3,000

asked the Secretary of Stale for the Home Department how many people have been convicted, year by year since 1969, of terrorist offences other than offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts 1974 and 1976; and how many of these people had previously been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts.

There are no terrorist offences as such in English law. Information on circumstances of offences is not collected centrally except for offences of homicide. The numbers of offences currently recorded as homicide which are attributed to acts of terrorism are published annually in Criminal Statistics, England and Wales (table 10·4 of the volume for 1979 (Cmnd. 8098)) and the numbers of persons convicted of such offences are shown in the following table; none of these persons had previously been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Acts.The information available on persons detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Acts 1974 and 1976 and charged with offences other than under the Acts is published quarterly in Home Office"Statistical Bulletins" (Table 5 of Issue No. 1/81).

Persons convicted of offences of homicide attributed to acts of terrorism
England and Wales	Number of persons
1969	—
1970	—
1971	—
1972	1
1973	—
1974	1
1975	10
1976	—
1977	5
1978	—
1979	2

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many supervision orders with an intermediate treatment requirement were made in 1979.

In making a supervision order under section 12 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 a court may require the supervised person to comply with such directions on certain specified matters as the supervising officer may give. These may include directions requiring participation in some form of intermediate treatment activity. The statistics on supervision orders collected centrally do not show the extent to which such intermediate treatment directions are given.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he gives to chief officers of police that their acquisition of arms, ammunition and riot control gear should be from British manufacturers wherever possible.

The responsibility for equipping a force rests with the chief officer concerned and the police authority. They are aware of the need to obtain best value for the expenditure of public money, and also, in the light of operational requirements, of the desirability of buying from British manufacturers wherever possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the money spent by chief officers of police in each of the last three years on the acquisition of arms and ammunition; and what proportion in each year has been bought from British manufacturers.

This information could be obtained from police forces only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to publish"Protect and Survive" in the languages of the ethnic minorities.

Not at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the closing date by which applications by electors to be treated as absent voters at the county council and Greater London Council elections on 7 May 1981 have to be received by electoral registration officers.

11 April.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the 30·49 per cent. increase in the grant in aid to the Equal Opportunities Commission between 1978–79 and 1979–80 is to be repeated in the current year; and if not, what limit has been placed.

No. The commission's expenditure in the current financial year will not be known until the end of that year, but it will be contained within the cash limit of £2.71 million.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what means are being adopted to test the accuracy of electoral registers in his Department's examination of that matter.

This Department is discussing with the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys and the Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government proposals for studying the accuracy of the electoral register. Final decisions have not yet been taken, however, on when or how such a study might be undertaken.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out the necessary statistics to support the case for the construction of a new prison in London.

The case for at least one new prison in London does not rest solely on statistics relating to the prison population (which are published in the annual reports on the work of the Prison Department). Overcrowding and enforced cell sharing, and the absence of reasonable access to modern sanitary facilities in the big four London prisons of Brixton, Pentonville, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs, together with their deteriorating condition, also provide support for this case.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ensure that systems and techniques recommended by his Department for police and fire brigades' radio communications systems will be compatible with world standards in order to maximise the competitive prospects for British-based industry.

My right hon. Friend keeps very much in mind the need to do all that is practicable and reasonable to help United Kingdom based industry to be competitive.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he is having and with whom on the subject of new technologies for radio communications systems; and whether he has received any representations from any radio user organisations on the matter.

In its capacity as the radio regulatory authority the Department has extensive consultations on the subject of new technology across the whole field of radio both through the recognised international committee structure and at a national level with radio manufacturers, users and suppliers in a wide range of policy and technical committees. If my hon. Friend has a particular matter in mind perhaps he will write to me about it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were on duty on Monday 2 March to keep public order during a march from South London to Hyde Park Corner by West Indians; how many police dogs and horses were on duty during the march; and what was the cost of mounting the police operation.

2,997; no dogs; 75 horses; £284,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were injured and how many people arrested during the march from South London to Hyde Park Corner on 2 March by West Indians.

82; 31.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether an adjustment is necessary to the external financing limit of the Post Office for 1980–81.

The Post Office's external financing limit for 1980–81 net of the effect of billing problems was set at £65 million, of which British Telecom's share is £78 million and that of the postal and giro businesses a net repayment of £13 million. Despite the tariff increases introduced last autumn to restore British Telecom's financial position following the loss of £19 million shown in the first half of the current financial year, the chairman-designate has informed me that the effects of the recession on revenue make it unlikely that British Telecom's real return on net assets for the year as a whole will exceed 5 per cent. This compares with a return of around 6 per cent. assumed when the external financing limit was set and in the"Government's Expenditure Plans" 1980–81 to 1983–84 (Cmnd. 7841).In view of this, and of increased working capital requirements due to difficulties with forecasting stock levels at the time when control procedures were disrupted by industrial action, British Telecom does not expect to be able to meet its share of the Post Office's external financing limit, despite the exercise of strict economy in its expenditures. The Government expect British Telecom to do everything in its power to keep the gap to a minimum and not to allow it to exceed £145 million. Accordingly, the Government have agreed to increase British Telecom's share of the external financing limit to £223 million net of the effects of the billing backlog. On that basis, the external financing limit of the Post Office as a whole would be adjusted to £210 million.This increase of £145 million in the external finance available to British Telecom in 1980–81 should be seen in relation to a forecast turnover in the year of about £4·5 billion. The funds are being found from the unallocated contingency reserve within the planned totals of public expenditure.As foreshadowed in the 1980–81 Financial Statement and Budget Report, the Post Office's external financing limit has been adjusted to take account of the effects of billing delays in 1979–80 caused by industrial action. It is estimated that those delays caused £345 million of bills which would otherwise have been paid in 1979–80 to be paid in 1980–81. Allowing for this adjustment, the Post Office will now be required to make a net repayment in 1980–81 of £135 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry when he expects a large industrial demonstration fluidised bed combustion boiler of between 100,000 and 500,000 pph capacity will be built in the United Kingdom.

I have been asked to reply.I am not aware of any firm plans to build a demonstration fluidised bed boiler in this size range in this country.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons in Northern Ireland receive more than £100 per week in respect of invalidity benefit.

Sixty-nine out of the 30,860 people receiving invalidity benefit in Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will consider how the processing of requests for grants for adaptations to dwellings occupied by disabled persons can be speeded up, especially by the consideration of such requests at an earlier stage by all the disciplines and officials involved.

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, in consultation with area health and social services boards. Such grant applications are already given high priority, but I shall ask the Housing Executive to review existing procedures in conjunction with area boards, to ensure that applications are dealt with as speedily as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the time lapse between the referral by the Housing Executive for a report by the welfare authorities of a dwelling occupied by a disabled person and the presentation of the report by the welfare authority to the Housing Executive grants officer for each health and social services area in Northern Ireland; and whether this period has increased in the last two years.

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, but I understand that the information sought is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. If the hon. Member has a particular case in mind and he writes to me, I will investigate it.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the time lapse between an occupational therapist making a report to the welfare authorities on a dwelling occupied by a disabled person and the delivery of such reports to the Housing Executive grants officer for each health and personal social services area in Northern Ireland; and whether this period has increased in the last two years.

The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. I am not aware of any unreasonable delays in the transmission of reports, but if the hon. Member has a particular case in mind and he writes to me, I will investigate it.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the tower block in the City hospital, Belfast, will be completed and in use; what is the date when the work started and what was the original opening date; what will be the total cost of construction and full equipment when the work is completed; and how this compares with the original estimate.

Construction of this tower block started in June 1971 for completion in July 1976. Because of the addition of undergraduate teaching accommodation, essential design changes, stoppages of work and other factors, completion is not now expected until the latter part of 1983. To allow time for commissioning, the building should be available for use in the period 1984–85.The original contract cost was £6.97 million at 1970 prices. The latest estimate of total construction cost is £41 million at 1980 prices. Equipment costs were originally estimated as £1 million but it is expected that these costs will now exceed £5 million. Essential additions and alterations in design together with disruption of work arising from civil disturbances and other causes and the high rate of inflation during the currency of the contract are the main reasons for the cost increase.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he is satisfied with the current take-up of Scottish steel for use on off-shore oil and gas developments; and what changes in tonnage have occurred in the last year.

The British Steel Corporation is heavily involved in the supply of plate, tubing and casing, sections, and line pipe to the United Kingdom offshore oil and gas industry. It is not possible to quantify the tonnages supplied by its plants at Ravenscraig, Dalziel, Clydebridge and Glengarnock in Scotland, since manufacturing processes will often utilise a number of locations. It is the policy of the BSC to increase the corporation's share of all markets, including the offshore market.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make an announcement of the completion of the allocations for the seventh round of North Sea licences.

Assessment of applications for blocks designated by the Department in the seventh round is still in progress. I expect to make an announcement about further awards very soon.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what would be the cost of a subsidy designed to encourage the purchase by industry of coal-burning boilers and equipment both to further the switch from oil to coal and to add one million tonnes of industrial coal consumption.

The cost of any scheme to facilitate the purchase by industry of coal-fired equipment would be dependent on a number of factors including capital cost reductions and payback periods which might be economically attractive to industry. The Government are continuing to keep under review the need for further encouragement for the substitution of oil by coal.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether European Economic Community funds are available for funding the use of fluidised bed combustion boilers.

Funds are available to promote innovation in fluidised bed combustion boilers under the Community's demonstration scheme for energy-saving projects, and the present call for proposals is open until 30 April 1981.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if, in the light of the detrimental effects that lead has upon the nervous systems, particularly of small children, he will seek to ban the use of lead additives to petrol, so as to reduce the lead content of petrol from 0·4 grammes per litre to 0·15 grammes per litre.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Environmental Services to the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Small Heath (Mr. Howell) on 12 January [Vol. 996, c. 515.] A statement on all aspects of environmental policy on lead, including lead in petrol, will be made as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many civil servants in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively, are employed in the petroleum production divisions of the Department of Energy, the Offshore Supplies Office and the other offices relating to the oil industry.

Within my Department civil servants employed in Scotland and England on matters relating directly to the oil industry number 96 and 228 respectively. I have no officials employed on oil industry matters in Wales or Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many Government cars are available to officials and civil servants in his Department; what are the rules governing their use; and what is the total cost per annum for providing such a service.

My Department has 10 cars which are used as necessary by offcials for the proper and effective discharge of departmental business. In the financial year 1979–80 the direct operational costs of these cars totalled £3,818.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Workington on 2 March, Official Report, c. 6, which powers held by the Welsh Development Agency and equally available to different agencies in the North of England provide for the allocation of additional funds for the setting up of special measures units under the Manpower Services Commission's special measures programme.

The Welsh Development Agency uses its powers under section 15 of the Welsh development Agency Act 1975 to contribute towards the costs of sponsors undertaking environmental improvement projects under the Manpower Services Commission's special programmes. I do not have Ministerial responsibility for the North of England and I cannot elaborate on the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry on 9 February.—[Vol, 998 c. 86–7.]

asked the Minister for the Civil Service how many Government cars are available to officials and civil servants in his Department; what are the rules governing their use; and what is the total cost per annum for providing such a service.

My Department has three cars (one chauffeur-driven)—provided on loan by the Department of the Environment Government car service—available to officials and civil servants in the CSD. The rules governing the use of official cars are set out in the Establishment Officer's Guide (para. 2293–2296), a copy of which is in the Library.The cost of providing this service is borne mainly by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment's Department—which has the overall responsibility for the operation and general efficiency of the Government car service. The only cost falling to my Department is that for employing one full-time driver, which is approximately £4,000 a year.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the announcement by the Secretary of State for the Environment on 11 February that a new house condition survey will be undertaken in England, he will commission a similar survey in Scotland.

No. My right hon. Friend, like his predecessors, does not believe that such a survey as is proposed for England would be appropriate for Scotland. He already obtains a good deal of information about the Housing stock from continuing exchanges with local authorities, including housing plans, statistical returns and a range of official contacts, as well as from particular research projects. He will nevertheless consider from time to time whether more detailed information of any particular kind is required.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is yet in a position to issue new guidelines regarding housing assistance under the crofters building grants and loans scheme.

I have considered whether housing assistance should continue to be given under the crofters building grants and loans scheme where the croft house has been detached from the croft and assistance for a replacement house is sought.Each case will be taken on its merits; but applications under the scheme will be considered in two sets of circumstances. These are:

asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether, in order to reduce evasion of the road fund tax, he will consider the use of wheel clamps on vehicles parked without a current road fund licence and the release of such vehicles only on payment of the licence and any arrears.

Ministers are considering proposals put forward by the Metropolitan Police for the use of immobilisation devices. This is being put to us primarily as a possible means of dealing with parking offences rather than other offences such as failure to display an excise licence.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what potentially dangerous coping stones and string courses were removed from the Palace of Westminster during the last Summer Recess; and at what cost.

Sections of potentially dangerous stonework were removed from Speaker's Court, Commons Inner Court, Peers' Inner Court and Peers' Court. The final cost is likely to be about £10,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much he estimates that it would now cost to clean, renovate and render safe the fabric of the Palace of Westminster; and how much he estimates that it would be likely to cost to carry out the same work in three, five and 10 years' time, respectively.

The current estimated cost of a major stone-cleaning and restoration programme is approximately £5½ million. The future cost would depend on changes in price levels over the periods of time selected.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will propose an amendment to the National Trust Act to allow some flexibility in the treatment of inalienable estates to enable more economic and efficient management of some National Trust properties.

The National Trust Acts are private legislation promoted by the trust. Any proposal for change should come, in the first instance, from the trust.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations his Department has received about improving access for disabled people to the built environment; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement.

A number of private individuals and organisations representing the interests of disabled people have written to me stressing the importance of adequate access to buildings. I am examining the effectiveness of the access provisions of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970. Meanwhile, I commend the British Standard code of practice for access for the disabled to buildings (BS 5810: 1979) to developers and designers of buildings.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects work to start on the feasibility study to be carried out by the Property Services Agency on the possible construction of a new prison at Woolwich Arsenal; and when he anticipates receiving the results of the study.

An initial study has started; I would expect to receive preliminary results later this year. If the site proves suitable, a full feasibility study is unlikely to be completed before mid-1982 at the earliest.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what he would accept as a reasonable cost for construction of a new prison at Woolwich Arsenal.

It is too early to say; the requirements and the siting have yet to be clearly identified.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many rents for each rent officer area in England have so far been registered for shorthold tenancies.

In order to get some indication of the geographical incidence of shortholds, rent officers are asking applicants for rent registration a voluntary question as to whether their letting is a shorthold. Up to 13 February, the number of rent registrations where applicants had indicated that their letting was a shorthold is set out in the table below.

Number of Fair Rents registered for Shorthold Tenancies
London
Barking	—
Barnet	3
Bexley	1
Brent	—
Bromley	—
City of London	—
Camden	—
Croydon	1
Ealing	2
Enfield	—
Greenwich	—
Hackney	—
Hammersmith	—
Haringey	2
Harrow	1
Havering	—

Hillingdon	—
Hounslow	2
Islington	—
Kensington and Chelsea	—
Kingston upon Thames	—
Lambeth	—
Lewishan	—
Merton	1
Newham	1
Redbridge	1
Richmond upon Thames	1
Southwark	—
Sutton	—
Tower Hamlets	—
Waltham Forest	1
Wandsworth	1
Westminster	1
London subtotal	19

Rest of England
Avon	7
Bedfordshire	—
Berkshire	4
Buckinghamshire	5
Cambridgeshire	6
Cheshire	2
Cleveland	3
Cornwall	16
Cumbria	10
Derbyshire	9
Devon	24
Dorset	8
Durham	2
East Sussex	10
Essex	16
Gloucestershire	7
Greater Manchester	5
Hampshire	8
Hereford and Worcester	3
Hertfordshire	1
Humberside	4
Isle of Wight	3
Kent	25
Lancashire	9
Leicestershire	1
Lincolnshire	1
Merseyside	1
Norfolk	17
Northumberland	5
Northamptonshire	1
North Yorkshire	16
Nottinghamshire	2
Oxfordshire	4
Shropshire	4
Somerset	12
South Yorkshire	11
Staffordshire	—

Suffolk	3
Surrey	3
Tyne and Wear	5
Warwickshire	2
West Midlands	8
West Sussex	2
West Yorkshire	13
Wiltshire	3
Rest of England subtotal	301
England total	320

It should be emphasised, however, that the figures do not represent the number of shorthold lettings taking place for the following reasons: first, because this is a voluntary question; second, because shorthold lettings where a fair rent has already been registered cannot be indentified until the rent is re-registered which may not be for up to three years; and third, because an application for a fair rent need not be made until 28 days after the start of the tenancy in cases where no fair rent is registered, and some applications already made by 13 February would still be being processed.It is the Government's view that the number would be significantly higher were it not for the Labour Party's deliberate attempt to sabotage shorthold, thus denying housing to people in need.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing how many people were made redundant, excluding education and health employees, by the local authorities in England in 1979 and 1980, the total cost of redundancy payments and the minimum, maximum and average payments made in each case.

This information is not collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make arrangements for an exhibition depicting the work of the Mary Rose Trust to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall.

Arrangements have been made with the authorities of the House for an exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday 9 March to Friday 20 March.